Whopping $44m expected for ex-Australia Post boss’s mansion
Ahmed Fahour's former home in Hawthorn is expected to fetch up to $44 million. Photo: Google Maps
The Melbourne mansion of former Australia Post boss Ahmed Fahour is for sale, and expected to fetch as much as $44 million.
Mr Fahour, who stepped down as Australia Post’s chief executive last year, paid $22 million for Invergowrie in February 2013.
The landmark property, at 21 Coppin Grove, Hawthorn, covers 1.023 hectares. It features a five-bedroom 1851 bluestone mansion, a pool, tennis court and spa with room for “25-30 people” plus three more buildings: a guesthouse, stables turned self-contained cottage, and a six-car garage with a gym and studio.
Mr Fahour and his wife, Dionnie, have spent millions on updates since they bought it five years ago. Work included a new pool and landscaped garden, as well as extending the internal area of the colonial gothic-style riverside homestead.
The sales campaign for Invergowrie was launched on the Instagram page of selling agent Marcus Chiminello.
Victoria’s record house price is $52.5 million for Malvern’s Stonnington Mansion, which sold earlier this year.
Invergowrie is being quoted at $40 million to $44 million. A price in that range would make it the state’s most expensive publicly promoted property – and one of a handful of similarly stratospheric sales in Melbourne.
Tech entrepreneur Ruslan Kogan paid $38.8 million in Toorak last month, while Mowbray, at 18 St Georges Rd, Toorak, sold to a Chinese buyer for about $39 million last year.
Mowbray, which sold for about $39 million last year. Photo: RT Edgar
It is unusual for such a high-end sale to become public. They are typically handled off-market or in private boardroom sales, to maintain the privacy of vendors and buyers.
Invergowrie is considered historically significant. Initially known as Burwood, it was built for Sir James Palmer, an early member and first Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Council. In the years that followed, it had several other significant owners and was even a finishing school for refined young women for some time.
The Fahours bought it from Peter and Angela Hill, of skate company Globe International.
Mr Fahour, now executive chairman of packaging group Pro-Pac, and his wife will downsize to a $16 million mansion in nearby Kinkora Road, Hawthorn. In his last year at Australia Post, he earned $10.8 million, ranking him among the country’s highest paid executives.
The Fahours’ old home is being sold through an expressions of interest campaign that closes on June 19. The campaign will be open to domestic and international buyers.
Israel poised to move on Gazan city of Rafah
Twenty-six whales dead after mass stranding
